Whether you should wake a sleeping newborn for feedings depends on the baby's age, weight and overall health. Most newborns lose weight in the first few days after birth. Until your newborn regains this lost weight — usually within one to two weeks after birth — it's important to feed him or her frequently.
Newborns should not go more than about 4–5 hours without feeding. Signs that babies are hungry include: moving their heads from side to side. opening their mouths.
The amount of sleep an infant gets at any one stretch of time is mostly ruled by hunger. Newborns will wake up and want to be fed about every three to four hours at first. Do not let your newborn sleep longer than five hours at a time in the first five to six weeks.
Check in with your health professional if your baby is consistently too sleepy to breastfeed to make sure they are not poorly or getting dehydrated. Hand expressing or pumping your milk will protect your milk supply and provide a breast milk supplement to keep your baby fed until they can breastfeed.
Newborns who sleep for longer stretches should be awakened to feed. Wake your baby every 3–4 hours to eat until he or she shows good weight gain, which usually happens within the first couple of weeks. After that, it's OK to let your baby sleep for longer periods of time at night.
For the first few days you may need to wake them to feed if they are still sleeping by 3 hours from the last day feeding and 4 hours at night. If baby still won't eat, allow baby to sleep another hour and try again to wake and feed them.
What happens if a newborn goes too long without feeding? Waiting too long to feed your newborn can lead to rapid weight loss, jaundice, and other health issues down the road.
It is not necessary to wake most older newborns up to eat. However, those younger than 1 month old or so may not wake up when they feel hungry. Babies younger than 4 weeks old should not go longer than 4–5 hours without food. To wake a baby up to eat, try brushing the side of their cheek.
E (EAT): When your baby wakes from nighttime or nap sleep, you'll want to immediately feed them. The purpose of the EWS cycle is to break the association that “feeding time means sleepy time" and to encourage full feedings. To do this, make sure the baby is fed as soon as they awaken.
For newborns or older babies, you should also call the doctor if the sleepiness coincides with other symptoms, like: Extreme lethargy or listlessness after you wake her, or trouble waking her. Signs of dehydration, like fewer wet diapers, darker colored urine, tearless crying or cracked lips.
Listlessness or Lethargy
Lethargy may be a sign of infection or other conditions such as low blood sugar. Talk with your baby's doctor if your infant becomes lethargic or isn't as active.
As a rule of thumb, a truly hungry baby will rarely choose sleeping over eating. So, if your baby falls asleep in your arms without taking a full feeding, it's likely he was tired — not hungry.
Short nursing sessions are normal – and perfectly fine unless your baby is having trouble gaining weight. Some babies are snackers – they nurse for a minute or two, take a break, and then go back. Other babies can drain the breast in two minutes and be satisfied for a few hours.
If your baby is healthy, gaining weight, and seems content after most breastfeeds, they're getting what they need. Babies who are feeding well can take anywhere between five minutes and 40 minutes at each feed.
Signs That Your Baby Isn't Eating Enough
They would rather sleep than eat. They won't latch onto your breast, or they pull away from you. They are fussy right after feedings. They wet fewer diapers.
This can include such basic measures as talking, singing, and gentle stimulation. Pick your baby up, talk to them, move their arms and legs around, even tickle the bottom of their feet or rub their cheek—whatever works to rouse them.
There are a few reasons that a newborn baby may not be eating enough such as a tongue-tie, blocked nose, stomach flu, illness, or being born prematurely. However, regardless of the reason, if your newborn isn't feeding normally, you should call their doctor, especially if your baby is sleepy and dull.
Feeding Baby At Two Weeks Old
Feedings should occur every 2-3 hours and hopefully every 4-5 during the night. Feeding should take about 30 minutes.
First Weeks and Months
On average, most exclusively breastfed babies will feed about every 2 to 4 hours. Some babies may feed as often as every hour at times, often called cluster feeding. Or may have a longer sleep interval of 4 to 5 hours.
Understanding newborn needs: sleep, feeds and play
Most newborns spend most of their time asleep – they sleep 14-17 hours in every 24 hours. It's common for newborns to sleep in short bursts of 2-3 hours between feeds, both night and day. Also, newborns need to feed every 2-4 hours.
During deep sleep, babies are very still and do not move much. Their breathing becomes more regular. They are harder to wake up. They may still make sucking movements and might startle, but this will not wake them.
Newborn tired signs include pulling at ears, jerking arms and legs, and sucking fingers. Babies and toddlers show they're tired by grizzling, demanding attention and not wanting to play.